The Reign of the Greyhound

Introduction

In March 1987 my Border Collie, Stockbridge, died. I was bereft and vowed there would never be another dog. After one dogless month, I ran into an acquaintance at a local street fair. Accompanying her was one of her huge, exotic-looking Greyhounds. For several years, Ruth Klastow had volunteered to find homes for retired racing Greyhounds, but eventually the pressures of work and family prevented her from continuing. From time to time, however, some of her adoptees bounced back when their homes didn’t work out. Such was the case on the day we met.

Ruth knew Stockbridge and asked how he was doing. When I explained about his recent death, she expressed her condolences and immediately asked if I wanted another dog. At first I protested it was too soon. Part of me, however, keenly missed having a dog in my life. Certainly there was no replacing Stockbridge, but surely there were other good dogs out there who needed a home. I took the plunge and asked her what she had in mind. What she had in mind was King.

King, whose racing name was Low Key Two, had been in four adoptive homes since his retirement. The first lasted only a week—the man wanted a guard dog and King was not up to the task.

The second home lasted a full year. During that time King had been a beloved pet. But when the couple who owned him divorced, neither could take him. King then lived with Ruth and her family for six months until the next home could be found. The new home went well until the work schedule of the owners changed. Soon neither owner was home very often and now, at the age of nine, King was relegated to an unlit, windowless basement. Once again, he needed a home.

Upon hearing of his plight, I was virtually sold on King, but the real deciding factor was that Ruth said if a home wasn’t found for him soon, he would have to be destroyed. The next thing I knew I was on my way to meet this strange creature who was about to change my life forever.

The extent of my knowledge about Greyhounds was probably only slightly more than the average person’s. I knew they were the fastest breed of dog. I knew they were rarely kept as pets but, rather, as racing dogs. And I knew that at that time many thousands of Greyhounds were killed every year when they were no longer useful on the track. Ruth had told me that they were sweet and affectionate pets, and her three bore that out. Despite the fact that her retired racers had never lived in a home, they took to it as if they had waited all their lives for the experience.

What I didn’t know about Greyhounds was literally enough to fill a book.

Of all the things I was to learn, not the least was that there is an entire family of dogs related to the Greyhound, including such well-known breeds as the Afghan Hound and the Whippet. In fact, in the United States alone, the number of individual dogs registered by the American Kennel Club in those related breeds is over 12,000 a year. Even more surprisingly, in the U.S. there were over 25,000 Greyhounds registered in 2002 alone, according to the registrations of the National Greyhound Association.

The history of the Greyhound parallels the history of civilization. Records show the breed has been with us for over 8,000 years. They have been prized and revered during much of that time and have accompanied people to most settlements in the civilized world. Greyhounds are the only breed of dog mentioned in the Bible. By virtue of their speed, grace and agility, Greyhounds have inspired poets and artists alike. Writers from Ovid to Shakespeare have sung their praises. In art, the Greyhound has been a subject in everything from the temples of the Pharaohs to the masterpieces of the Renaissance. Greyhounds have graced coins, stamps, seals and coats of arms.

It is no exaggeration to say that to look into the eyes of a Greyhound is to look into the ages. There is an ancient and all-knowing quality about them that cannot be found in other breeds. When I see my Greyhounds crouching with their long, slender forelegs outstretched and their ears alert and erect, it is not hard to imagine them in ancient Egypt, keenly aware of their surroundings, yet serene and calm. In loving and appreciating Greyhounds, we can feel an affinity with those people who, thousands of years ago, had the same feelings.

Of course, one of the big thrills of owning a Greyhound is seeing one in action. Watching King tear across my meadow for the sheer joy of it, or seeing him wade in the creek or roll in the grass then suddenly leap to his feet and into a full gallop are things I will never forget.

The Greyhound possesses naturally the qualities to which we all aspire: strength with grace and intelligence with sensitivity.

This, then, is their story.

1

The Greyhound Family

Almost 8,000 years ago, before there was such a thing as a written word and long before the invention of the wheel, there is evidence that Greyhound-like dogs lived with humans. Excavations at Çatal-Hüyük in Turkey, a site dating back to 6000 B.C., have unearthed a sanctuary decorated with ritual hunting scenes. The dogs assisting in the kill had long legs, delicate muzzles and deep chests. These were the first purebred dogs and progenitors of the Greyhounds we know today.

The Greyhound family tree has many branches. Borzois and Afghan Hounds, for example, are part of the clan. What these dogs have in common is not only a similar physique, but also a similar method of hunting and a similar character. These likenesses were brought to my attention in 1998 when I adopted an Afghan Hound, Jasper, who was within hours of meeting his Maker at the local SPCA. At first glance it was clear that Jasper and my ex-racing Greyhound, King, had many characteristics in common. I knew they were both sighthounds, meaning that they hunted by sight rather than scent as most dogs do; but I suspected their similarities were deeper than that.

I wanted to know what other dogs are sighthounds, so I looked to the American Kennel Club’s breed groups. I found that the Afghan and the Greyhound are in the Hound group. The other sighthounds are also in this group: Basenjis, Borzois, Scottish Deerhounds, Ibizan Hounds, Irish Wolfhounds, Pharaoh Hounds, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Salukis and Whippets. So far, so good. But what was this? Beagles? Bloodhounds? Norwegian Elkhounds? What did they have in common with my dogs? It wasn’t long before I decided that grouping these dogs together as hounds may have some value in the registration office or in the show ring, but this classification offered little insight into this special family of dogs.

So I looked further. The groupings of the kennel clubs of Canada, Great Britain and Bermuda offered no help, but when I got to the classifications of the Belgian club, the groups finally made sense. The Fédération Cynologique International (FCI) is considered one of the top three authorities on canines in the world (the American and British Kennel Clubs are the other two). In this club, hounds are grouped according to purpose and appearance.

In the Dixième Groupe (10th Group) are the Lévriers (Greyhounds), which include the following: Greyhounds, Whippets, Sloughis,* Galgos,* Charniques,* Barzois (Borzois), Deerhounds (Scottish Deerhounds), Irish Wolfhounds, Persans (Salukis), Afghans and Petits Lévriers Italians (Italian Greyhounds). Even the inclusion of the Italian Greyhound made sense. Although they have lost their hunting ability over the centuries, these dogs are direct, scaled-down descendants of the Greyhound. The absence of the Basenji and Rhodesian Ridgeback was appropriate as well. Although they do hunt by sight, these breeds have little else in common with the others and are not in the same family of dogs. The Belgian club is not alone in its method of grouping Greyhounds. Both the German and Swedish kennel clubs follow its model.

All members of the Greyhound family are variations on a theme. Some dogs may have long hair, some short. Some may have ears that stand up, and others may have ears that hang down. But in the most basic ways, they are all Greyhounds. Although this book focuses primarily on the standard, or English, Greyhound, a quick look at the related breeds gives a greater sense of the family as a whole. All are sighthounds and all are cousins.

What should not go unmentioned are lurchers, any dogs of mixed sighthound ancestry. Oftentimes they are purposely created, as they tend to exhibit what is known as hybrid vigor. Even in ancient times, their fine attributes were well known. No less a personage than Aristotle wrote in praise of the Molossian (fighting dog) and Laconian (running dog) cross: Dogs that are born of a mixed breed between these two kinds are remarkable for courage and endurance of hard labor. See if you don’t agree with his assessment by looking carefully at these lurchers, which are various (and unknown) sighthound blends.

Afghan Hound

Basenji

Borzoi

Greyhound

Ibizan Hound

Irish Wolfhound

Italian Greyhound

Pharaoh Hound

Rhodesian Ridgeback

Saluki

Scottish Deerhound

Whippet

Chart Polski or Polish Greyhound. This breed is also very rare and, in fact, this particular dog lives in Poland.

Rampur Hound. Only seven Rampur Hounds exist outside of their native India, and even there they are scarce.

Portuguese Podengo, another rare sighthound breed.

This brother-and-sister pair were found as young puppies, surviving on their own in the wild. They are capable of bringing down birds in mid-flight. Zoe (up front) shows more of the influence of another breed (notice the wirehair on her withers) while Zack has a uniformly smooth coat. Both are smaller than standard Greyhounds.

Here are two views of Monica, who came from Ireland, where she reportedly traveled with tinkers. She is enormously talented and is equally at ease on the agility course or striking a show pose.

Padillac is known in his home as a Halfghan, half Afghan Hound, half anyone’s guess. His coat is actually longer than this (and much more Afghan-like), but is kept clipped for easier maintenance.

Sir Edwin Landseer (1802–1873) found lurchers to be a worthy subject. Here is one in a painting of his called Cane. (Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

SIGHTHOUND CHARACTERISTICS

What, then, are sighthounds? In what ways are they similar and in what ways do they differ? First of all, a sighthound’s ability to hunt by sight rather than by scent sets it apart from other dogs. Most dogs have relatively poor eyesight and depend on their noses to lead them to their prey. Experts have estimated that a dog’s sense of smell is 50,000 times greater than a human’s. The sighthound’s sense of smell is no weaker, but through centuries of training, these dogs have learned to rely more on their eyes than their noses. Like humans, and unlike other dogs, they have learned to recognize things by sight.

The reason the breed was developed to hunt by sight is straightforward: Dogs in the Greyhound family originated in the Middle East. For the most part, the